Hello again everybody,

Gary and I are finally back and finally rested after a fantastic vacation. Since my first entry, we were able to do some very interesting and fun things in London. First off, we saw a matinee performance of the musical Chicago at the Adelphi theatre near the Covent area of town. It was truly an exciting performance by a lovely cast that included Joel Grey.

Not to far from Covent was our next tourist stop. We were off to The Dickens House Museum, the home of Charles Dickens. It was an interesting site. Of course we read a little about his life, wife and family, bought some souvenirs, and looked up my genealogy as best I could.

My connection to the Dickens line is my paternal grandmother. Her maiden name is Mildred Dickens. Her father was Walter Dickens. Now, this is where it gets a little fuzzy. Walter appears to be the son or grandson of Fred Dickens, the brother of Charles. So that makes me Charles' first cousin fifth removed, or something like that (any of you genealogy geniuses or even you run of the mill geniuses feel free to correct and advise me further...please!). Unfortunately, the curator of the museum, David Parker, was not available to me at the time. Otherwise I may have more specifics.

The next couple days Gary and I spent at the Reading Festival. And, yes indeed, it was a lot of fun. But, I'll try to write more on that a little later.

When we got back from the Reading Festival, we really only had one more full day left. So, we elected to visit some of the historical and points of interest more closely than the top of a tour bus. The places we walked around are the London Tower, Tower Bridge, and Westminster Abbey. The last of which we separated with 5 pounds each and toured it. It was a fascinating place. It is loaded with incredible craftsmanship in the architecture and works of art. The amount of history in it vaults is utterly amazing. Great leaders of state, science, theology all rest in Westminster Abbey. I was especially in awe when visiting the site of Isaac Newton.

Our last day in London was spent at the airport. We shopped a little in the "Duty Free" shops. We bought some chocolate and some French wine. Unfortunately, that was as much of France we got on this trip. But, there is always next year. The trip back retraced the route over. And, the only difference in the aircraft was in the transatlantic leg. This time we flew on a Boeing 767 reaching a maximum altitude of 39,000 feet. Wow!

As before, more later.

Love, Ed.

Buckingham palace